Chapter 17

 

Monday morning, Sunny phoned to tell me her father had arrived late Sunday night. She said he was planning to spend some time with them and she and Star wouldn’t be able to work on their sewing projects until he had gone home again. She didn’t sound either pleased or unhappy, but oddly indifferent, as if she were discussing the weather.

I called Adele at the store to find out if there was going to be a meeting of the Family Friends committee soon. Justin Gorlowski, Robert’s nephew, answered the phone. He was working at the grocery for the summer months. I learned that Adele had gone on a trip to check out a possible produce supplier, and wouldn’t be home until Wednesday. From this I deduced that there would be no committee meeting earlier than Thursday, and that Justin must have come a long way in understanding the grocery business since I had watched him bumble through his first few days at the store, back in May.

At long last, I assembled a dog travel kit and put towels, blankets, a filled water jug, the new bowl, a brush, an extra leash, plastic bags, a couple of balls, some treats and a plastic container of food into a large carton and stowed it in the back of the Jeep. It took up almost as much room as the dog himself.

It appeared that I had the rest of the day free, and I knew just how I was going to use the time. After taking Paddy for a short walk down my familiar trail, I clipped him on his cable run and drove in to Cherry Hill to Jouppi’s Hardware to look at paint samples. I returned with primer, ceiling paint, and several gallons of a buttery off-white paint that wasn’t quite yellow, but looked very rich. A handful of color cards displaying shades from seafoam green to teal were jammed in my back pocket. I was toying with painting one end wall a bright color.

None of the window trim was in place yet, and only the sub-floor was laid, so it was a perfect time to paint. I didn’t have to worry about splatters very much at all. By late afternoon I had finished the primer coat, and two coats of ceiling paint. I washed the brushes and rollers. Paddy was anxious to go out, and I was hungry, having skipped lunch. It had been a quiet day, and I appreciated the respite from all the activity of the weekend. I was in the kitchen, making a sandwich and stretching my sore neck muscles when Paddy began to bark from the driveway.

I looked out the window and saw Star coasting into the yard on a bicycle. She looked like a woman on a mission, not like a carefree teenager. I opened the door just as she was stepping onto the porch, and she stamped into the living room, followed by Paddy.

“Hi there!” I said. “Come in the kitchen and have a drink. I’m just eating. Would you like something?”

“Just some water. Can we talk? I’m so angry at my dad I could... I could... I don’t know what, but he just doesn’t understand.”

“Did you ride all the way here? It must be fifteen miles.”

“I just couldn’t stand it any longer! It was the only way I could get away. Poor Sunny is stuck there, but she said she’d be OK and that I should come tell you.”

“What’s happening?” I led the way into the kitchen, and poured Star a glass of cold water from a pitcher in the refrigerator, trying not to look alarmed. We sat at the kitchen table.

“It’s Dad.”

“What’s the matter? Did he hurt you?”

She took a long drink of water. “No, no. He’s not like that. I know he’s our dad, but he thinks he runs everything, when he hasn’t even seen us since Grandma’s funeral.”

“Tell me about it.”

“First of all, he acts like he owns the place. The trailer is small, you know. He has to sleep on the couch when he comes. Maybe it just bothers me more, now that I’m older, but he seems to fill up all the space. The recliner section of the couch is the only place Grandpa can sit and be comfortable, but Dad slept late, and then didn’t fold up his blankets. So Grandpa had to sit on a hard chair till Dad got up, and then Grandpa had to fold up the blankets himself, just to be able to have his place to sit.”

DuWayne’s behavior sounded rather thoughtless to me, but hardly serious enough to have caused Star to ride her bicycle all the way to my house. I took a bite of sandwich and Star went on with her tale.

“Then he used up all the hot water taking a shower, and ordered me to make breakfast for him. I would’ve fixed his old breakfast, you know. I just didn’t like being told to do it, like I was his slave or something.”

“I can understand that,” I said.

“I guess this kind of stuff is nothing new, but it made me so mad, on top of the other things he said.”

“Like what?”

Star squirmed in her chair. “He wasn’t very nice.”

“In what way?” I was hoping that offering a listening ear was going to be sufficient help, because I had no interest in interjecting myself into a family argument. From what Len had told me, DuWayne didn’t even have parental rights, legally.

“It’s like he doesn’t care about Mom. He said that we should have known she must be dead. But, why wouldn’t we want to dream that she might come back? I remember what it was like when we were together.” She sighed and finally slowed down the pace of her rant. “A little bit anyway.”

“Were things good for you, back then?”

“I guess we must have been really poor, but I didn’t know it. I remember Dad being big and warm. He would hold us on his knees and give us horsey rides. Sunny would giggle and giggle, but I had to hold on tight because he bounced me harder since I was older. We would go to town for baby-size soft ice cream cones, and watch the sun set from our porch.”

“Were you hoping things could be like that again?”

“Not really, oh, maybe a little bit... I’ve been thinking a lot this year, I guess. Mom was just a year older than I am when she had me. I pretty much take care of things for us since Grandma died, but I can’t imagine doing all that and having a baby, too.”

“Your mom must have worked very hard.”

Star changed the direction of her story. “Sunny and I walked down to our old trailer earlier this year. She didn’t remember it at all.”

“But you did?”

“Some things. I remember it being bigger. We used to chase each other up and down the hall. That Sunny could run even when she was a toddler! Now, when she runs inside our trailer I tell her to stop. The whole place shakes. Living in a trailer is really crappy.”

“You keep yours very clean and nice.”

“Thanks. I try, but we have some money from when Grandpa got hurt. I don’t think my mom had anything at all. That’s why she was trying to get that job. At least now I know that she didn’t walk away and leave us.”

“Did you think that, before?”

“I didn’t want to think so, but sometimes I would hear people talking, until they thought I might hear them, and then they clammed up. It was hard, not knowing. But now, I know she couldn’t come back and that means she really loved us. Right up until the end.” Tears began to run down her cheeks.

“I don’t want to get your hopes up, but we don’t know for certain yet that it is your mom.”

“Yes we do. The Sheriff called a while ago and said the dental records proved it. Grandpa is planning a memorial service for Wednesday.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said, feeling inadequate.

“I have to be strong for Sunny and Grandpa, but would it sound like a kid to ask for a hug?”

“Of course not!” We stood up and I held Star close while she cried silently.

“Grandpa’s really sad, and he’s letting Dad boss him around.”

“You’ve lost your mother, but he’s lost a daughter, too. I think he’ll be fine, but it will take some time. Your grandfather is a good man.”

We heard a diesel truck coming into the driveway.

“That’s Dad,” said Star, pulling away from me and running to the window. “How did he know I was here? Sunny must’ve told him.”

This was going to be awkward. It wasn’t exactly the way I had hoped to meet DuWayne Jefferson, but that couldn’t be helped now. He walked purposefully toward the porch and seemed prepared to pound on the door, but I opened it before he had a chance. I wanted to take the initiative.

“Hi Dad,” Star said.

“Hello, Mr. Jefferson,” I said at the same time.

The man never looked at me, but glared at Star. “What are you doing here?”

“I came over to talk to Miss Ana,” she answered. Her voice was firm, but not as confident as I knew it could be.

“Get in the truck,” DuWayne ordered. “And put your bike in the back, first.”

“Yes, sir.”

I stepped back, and Star pushed past DuWayne and walked meekly toward her bicycle.

DuWayne turned to me. He was, indeed, a big man, probably six feet tall. He was solid and muscular with a shaved head, and he was wearing a tight black t-shirt and black pants. I’m not easily intimidated, but I certainly wouldn’t ever want to cross this man. Nevertheless, I didn’t appreciate his brusque manner with a young girl who had just figured out that she’d lost her mother and somehow grown up without a childhood, especially when that girl was his daughter and should have been able to count on some sympathy from him.

“I don’t like you messing with my family,” he said in a cold voice. “Those girls have a hard enough time as it is without someone making them think they’re better than they are.”

“I’m not sure what you mean—we’ve made cookies and are sewing some school clothes. Those aren’t exactly extravagant.”

“And I’ve heard about you solving mysteries. I’ve been here one day, and already people tell me you poke your nose into other people’s problems.”

I was shocked. “Look, I have nothing to do with this. Angelica was buried along the river, and my driveway provides good access. I enjoy spending time with the girls, but I’m certainly not going to try to solve a seven-year-old murder.”

“Good. And while I’m here, the girls won’t need you. Got it?”

I looked up at him and took a deep breath. “I understand you are upset that Star came over here without permission. I’m perfectly willing to keep in the background, but young girls need a woman around, sometimes. Please don’t punish Star. Naturally, she’s upset by everything that’s happened and needed to talk about her mother.”

“We’ll see. And you keep that mutt away from us, too.” He pivoted on his heel and marched back to the big black truck. As he did a K-turn and spun out of the yard it looked as if he was yelling at Star, and she was hugging the passenger door, trying to move as far from her father as she could.

Paddy had been crouched at my feet, growling softly in his throat, apparently trying to understand the angry human voices he was unaccustomed to hearing. I’d almost forgotten him. Now he stood up and nuzzled my hand. Suddenly my knees were weak, and I collapsed into an easy chair. The dog put his head in my lap.

“Now what, Paddy?” I asked, as I stroked his silky ears.